I’m sorry for any confusion, but as of my most current and reliable resources, there is currently no Top-Level-Domain (TLD) named “.NEXTDIRECT”.
Top-Level-Domains, as defined by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), are the last segment of the domain name. They follow immediately after the last (rightmost) dot, such as .com, .org, .net, etc. Generally, TLDs categorize information concerning the website associated with it, like the website’s purpose, the organization that owns it or the geographical area in which it operates.
ICANN titled this system as the Domain Name System (DNS), brought about to connect IP addresses, (consisting of strings of numbers that are not easily recalled) with domain names that instead could be remembered with ease.
In the pursuit of diversifying the internet beyond the ‘classic’ TLDs such as .com, .net, and .org, ICANN has enacted the New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program. This program allowed companies to create brand-based TLDs or TLDs based around particular themes.
One example of a brand-based TLD is “.google” used by Google Inc. However, note that use of a brand-based gTLD can be implemented only by the company who registered it as part of their branding strategy (Reference: ICANN).
That being said, “NEXTDIRECT” could potentially be a Second-Level-Domain (SLD). For instance, “nextdirect.com”; here, “.com” is the TLD, and “nextdirect” is the Second-Level-Domain (SLD).
Regarding the TLD “.NEXTDIRECT”, according to the reports on ICANN’s website, and other domain name registries such as VeriSign, the TLD “.NEXTDIRECT” is non-existent. My current resources restrict an adequate, precise technical description for the non-existent TLD “.NEXTDIRECT”.
However, as per ICANN policy, it could be possible in the future to register “.NEXTDIRECT” as a new gTLD, if one follows and meets the new gTLD application process guidelines set by ICANN (Reference: ICANN). In that case, its technical description would depend on how it’s implemented.
Hopefully, the explanation was informative despite NEXTDIRECT not being a TLD. It’s necessary to maintain up-to-date data for dynamic fields like internet domain systems through monitoring recognized and reliable sources regularly.
Sources Used:
1. ICANN Official Website
2. Verisign Inc
